[arch-general] Unstable/Unusably slow Wi-Fi connection with systemd-networkd/wpa_supplicant

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[arch-general] Can someone step in...

riveravaldez

24 Mar 2021 24 Mar '21

2:09 a.m.

Hi, I was using Wicd until a couple of weeks without problems, but because it's been out of repos for a while and generally not maintained/developed anymore I decided to make the switch and start using systemd-networkd. The machine is a laptop Dell XPS 15 L502X (Sandy Bridge) with: 03:00.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation Centrino Wireless-N 1030 [Rainbow Peak] (rev 34) I followed the Arch Wiki without problems and wired connection seems to be working flawlessly. But Wi-Fi is unstable and slow at the point of unusability. I posted on the forums[0] for help but didn't get any until now, so I'm letting the link here just in case someone can give me any hint. In the forum's post I informed the output of terminal, networkctl and wpa_cli status, dmesg, journalctl, etc. Please let me know if I should put the details here (didn't did it just to not make mail extremely long, hope I'm not doing wrong) or add anything else. Thanks a lot in advance. Best regards. [0] https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=264608

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leoutation＠gmx.fr

24 Mar 24 Mar

8:16 a.m.

...

Hi, I was using Wicd until a couple of weeks without problems, but because it's been out of repos for a while and generally not maintained/developed anymore I decided to make the switch and start using systemd-networkd. Hi I've been using systemd-networkd too, it worked fine but, suddenly, I met issue. I didn't understand why until i discovered it come from systemd-networkd himself. After upgrading it, it worked again. That issue was beneficial for me: i replaced systemd-networkd with ConnMan. And now, I forgot it. Connman is very stable, well maintened,

On 3/24/21 2:09 AM, riveravaldez via arch-general wrote: light, it just works. Don't forget you need to be root to configure it. Other thing: i hate wpa_supplicant. I replaced it with Iwd. Greetings

...

The machine is a laptop Dell XPS 15 L502X (Sandy Bridge) with:

03:00.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation Centrino Wireless-N 1030 [Rainbow Peak] (rev 34)

I followed the Arch Wiki without problems and wired connection seems to be working flawlessly. But Wi-Fi is unstable and slow at the point of unusability.

I posted on the forums[0] for help but didn't get any until now, so I'm letting the link here just in case someone can give me any hint. In the forum's post I informed the output of terminal, networkctl and wpa_cli status, dmesg, journalctl, etc.

Please let me know if I should put the details here (didn't did it just to not make mail extremely long, hope I'm not doing wrong) or add anything else.

Thanks a lot in advance. Best regards.

[0] https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=264608

-- Maderios

Anton Hvornum

8:42 a.m.

On Wed, Mar 24, 2021 at 8:16 AM maderios via arch-general wrote:

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Connman is very stable, well maintened, light, it just works. Don't forget you need to be root to configure it. Other thing: i hate wpa_supplicant. I replaced it with Iwd. -- Maderios

Personal opinions aside (I really don't get the "root to configure" argument or "well maintained", systemd is updated by the hour). Systemd is arguably very stable too, but it depends on Iwd just like ConnMan. Since systemd uses Iwd (among others) to configure wifi, I would suggest trying Iwd as well instead of wpa_supplicant, your problem is most likely there and not systemd.

Damjan Georgievski

12:23 p.m.

On Wed, 24 Mar 2021 at 02:10, riveravaldez via arch-general wrote:

...

Hi, I was using Wicd until a couple of weeks without problems, but because it's been out of repos for a while and generally not maintained/developed anymore I decided to make the switch and start using systemd-networkd.

...

From your forum post I see you're getting many disconnections, so

systemd-networkd is outside of the either traffic path (the kernel does it), or the WiFi management path (wpa_supplicant or iwd). that's either a wifi driver issue, an AP issue, or you have more than one wifi management app running (more than one wpa_supplicant, both wpa_supplicant and iwd?) -- damjan

Markus Schaaf

1:24 p.m.

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Systemd is arguably very stable too, Just to clarify, we are talking about systemd-networkd here: No, it's

Am 24.03.21 um 08:42 schrieb Anton Hvornum via arch-general: the total opposite of stable. I had to experience two breaking changes lately, before I decided to migrate away from it. First: The matching logic of its config files changed. From the start on, config files without a Match section matched everything. Now they match nothing, leaving some of my servers without connectivity after upgrade. Second: You cannot use its DHCP feature without systemd-resolved anymore. The latter has the nasty bug of compiled-in fallback DNS servers, that you cannot disable via config files; leaking private data to Google or Cloudflare or allowing masquerade attacks, in case of local DNS problems. Even Fedora is patching that stuff out now AFAIK. BR

David Rosenstrauch

1:56 p.m.

On 3/23/21 9:09 PM, riveravaldez via arch-general wrote:

...

Hi, I was using Wicd until a couple of weeks without problems, but because it's been out of repos for a while and generally not maintained/developed anymore I decided to make the switch and start using systemd-networkd.

...

I followed the Arch Wiki without problems and wired connection seems to be working flawlessly. But Wi-Fi is unstable and slow at the point of unusability.

I've had very good luck using NetworkManager over the years, if you don't mind switching. DR

Mike Cloaked

3:11 p.m.

On Wed, Mar 24, 2021 at 12:24 PM Markus Schaaf via arch-general < arch-general@lists.archlinux.org> wrote:

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Am 24.03.21 um 08:42 schrieb Anton Hvornum via arch-general:

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Systemd is arguably very stable too, Just to clarify, we are talking about systemd-networkd here: No, it's the total opposite of stable. I had to experience two breaking changes lately, before I decided to migrate away from it.

First: The matching logic of its config files changed. From the start on, config files without a Match section matched everything. Now they match nothing, leaving some of my servers without connectivity after upgrade.

Second: You cannot use its DHCP feature without systemd-resolved anymore. The latter has the nasty bug of compiled-in fallback DNS servers, that you cannot disable via config files; leaking private data to Google or Cloudflare or allowing masquerade attacks, in case of local DNS problems. Even Fedora is patching that stuff out now AFAIK.

I have been using systemd-networkd with iwd for quite some time without major problems on several machines. I use DHCP but systemd-resolved is not enabled or running - so it is a question of setting up the configs correctly. In my case I have unbound set up for dns resolving and it works nicely. On this machine that I am posting now I have: $ cat /etc/systemd/network/25-wireless.network [Match] Name=wlp* Name=wlan* [Network] Description=lenovo1w DHCP=yes IPv6PrivacyExtensions=true [Adress] # ULA Address=fd00:abad:f00d:d00d::94/64 # [DHCP] RouteMetric=20 There is an analogous file for wired networking. and the /etc/resolv.conf is $ cat /etc/resolv.conf search my-local-network.com # Use 127.0.0.1 nameserver 127.0.0.1 iwd is set up to connect to my local router separately using iwctl, which worked fine before starting the systemd-networkd service. Of course your own setup may be more complex or different but the basic setup this way works without any faults for me. -- mike c

Markus Schaaf

4:47 p.m.

Am 24.03.21 um 15:11 schrieb Mike Cloaked via arch-general:

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I use DHCP but systemd-resolved is not enabled or running ... I have unbound set up

This is a possible configuration, if you are willing to run your own resolver, which defeats split horizon DNS setups, IDS, or spam filters like pihole, or even certain CDNs. For mobile clients I'm using connman/iwd now, that replaces networkd, resolved, timesyncd. For wired machines I'm using static configuration via networkd or even pure .service units, which is generated from a central database that feeds DNS too. (hosts files are generated too, avoiding two "single" points of failure for local network services) Networkmanager is also fine, but I had the impression that roaming and reconnects after suspend are faster with connman.

riveravaldez

2 Nov 2 Nov

2:29 a.m.

New subject: [arch-general] [SOLVED] Re: Unstable/Unusably slow Wi-Fi connection with systemd-networkd/wpa_supplicant

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On Wed, Mar 24, 2021 at 8:16 AM maderios via arch-general wrote:

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(...) Other thing: i hate wpa_supplicant. I replaced it with Iwd. -- Maderios

(...) Since systemd uses Iwd (among others) to configure wifi, I would suggest

On Wednesday, March 24, 2021, Anton Hvornum via arch-general < arch-general@lists.archlinux.org> wrote: trying

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Iwd as well instead of wpa_supplicant, your problem is most likely there and not systemd.

Hi, sorry for the delay (we had a move in the middle), just to confirm that indeed the issue seems to had been related to wpa_supplicant. Once I replaced it with iwd everything worked fine, and it stays that way. Many thanks, everybody! Kind regards.

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Anton Hvornum
Damjan Georgievski
David Rosenstrauch
leoutation＠gmx.fr
Markus Schaaf
Mike Cloaked
riveravaldez

[arch-general] Unstable/Unusably slow Wi-Fi connection with systemd-networkd/wpa_supplicant

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